Livable Communities Act

Livable Communities Act Gains Momentum

HOUSE BILL EXPECTED SOON

The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee plans to take up the Livable Communities Act (S. 1619), with action scheduled before the end of the year. A House version of the bill is expected before the Thanksgiving recess. Committee action in both the House and Senate has been delayed by debate and action on financial regulatory modernization and reform.

S. 1619, introduced by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) in August, would create competitive planning grants for creating comprehensive long-term plans that integrate transportation, housing, land use, and economic development, as well as challenge grants for projects in public transportation, affordable housing, complete streets, transit-oriented development, and brownfield redevelopment. Additionally, the bill would establish a federal Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to administer and oversee the Livable Communities grant programs. It would also authorize the federal Interagency Council on Sustainable Communities, which would include representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies to coordinate federal sustainable development policies.

On The Brink!

According to the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment(MA)over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber, and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.

The changes that have been made to ecosystems have contributed to substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development, but these gains have been achieved at growing costs in the form of the degradation of many ecosystem services, increased risks of nonlinear changes, and the exacerbation of poverty for some groups of people. These problems, unless addressed, will substantially diminish the benefits that future generations obtain from ecosystems.

The degradation of ecosystem services could grow significantly worse during the first half of this century and is a barrier to achieving the ISC Sustainable Community Development goals.

The challenge of reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services can be partially met under some scenarios that the MA has considered, but these involve significant changes in policies, institutions, and practices that are not currently under way. Many options exist to conserve or enhance specific ecosystem services in ways that reduce negative trade-offs or that provide positive synergies with other ecosystem services.

First ISC Chartered University

Urbana University, Ohio - Founded in 1850, with the ground work for its creation being laid in part by John Chapman, who is better known as Johnny "Appleseed" was the second institution in Ohio to admit women and the first nontraditional degree completion program of its kind in Ohio. The liberal arts University became the first (and at present the only) University to become a Charter Member of the International Sustainability Council. To see a copy of the Urbana University Sustainability Charter visit:

http://www.thesustainabilitycouncil.org/charters/Urbana.pdf

Steve Jones, President of the University and an ISC Council member has reported that several Charter related projects are already underway on the 128 acre campus, including a habitat restoration project, a full campus energy audit and several other initiatives that will be reported on in future posts on this blog.

Take a virtual visit to Urbana University by visiting:

http://www.urbana.edu/index.php